Junction barrier Schottky (JBS) with floating islands

ABSTRACT

A Schottky diode includes a Schottky barrier and a plurality of dopant regions disposed near the Schottky barrier as floating islands to function as PN junctions for preventing a leakage current generated from a reverse voltage. At least a trench opened in a semiconductor substrate with a Schottky barrier material disposed therein constitutes the Schottky barrier. The Schottky barrier material may also be disposed on sidewalls of the trench for constituting the Schottky barrier. The trench may be filled with the Schottky barrier material composed of Ti/TiN or a tungsten metal disposed therein for constituting the Schottky barrier. The trench is opened in a N-type semiconductor substrate and the dopant regions includes P-doped regions disposed under the trench constitute the floating islands. The P-doped floating islands may be formed as vertical arrays under the bottom of the trench.

This patent application is a Divisional application of a co-pending application Ser. No. 11/607,583 filed on Dec. 1, 2006. The patent application Ser. No. 11/607,583 is a Continuation in Part (CIP) application of a co-pending application with a Ser. No. 11/056,345 filed by a common Inventor of this application on Feb. 11, 2005. The Disclosures made in these Applications are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates generally to the semiconductor power devices. More particularly, this invention relates to an improved and novel manufacturing process and device configuration for providing the MOSFET device with shielded trench gates with cells provided with Schottky source contact for improving performance of high frequency power switching, H-bridge and synchronization rectification applications.

2. Description of the Related Art

As the applications of Schottky diodes become more widespread, particularly for reducing the power consumption and increasing the switching speed, it becomes even more important to improve the device configuration and manufacturing processes to reduce the production costs of the Schottky rectifying devices. One particular important consideration is the reduction of the surface areas on the semiconductor substrate occupied by the Schottky diodes. Reduction of the surface-area utilization of the Schottky diodes provides a key to reduce the manufacturing costs and to further miniaturize the size and shape of electronic devices for achieving portability and functionality enhancements. However, in order to achieve the purpose of surface utilization while maintaining current conducting areas, the Schottky diodes are sometimes implemented by filling trenches with a barrier material. The trench Schottky diode configuration leads to another technical difficulty due to the performance limitations including the required high forward voltage VF, the low sustainable breakdown voltage BV, and the high leakage current Idss. These performance limitations often cause difficulties in applying the junction barrier Schottky (JBS) for broader and more variety of applications.

The Schottky diode has been used to replace PN diodes in many applications. The low forward drop of the Schottky diode in the forward conduction mode reduces the power dissipation of the device. The conduction of the Schottky is through majority carrier, so minority carrier charge storage effects do not occur in the switching characteristics of the device. Therefore the Schottky diode is a preferred over the PN junction diodes in many power applications. FIG. 1A shows a typical Schottky diode where a Schottky barrier metal is contacted to an n-type silicon. The P+ junctions are placed at the edge of the barrier metal contact areas to eliminate the premature breakdown of the device. The forward voltage of the diode is directly proportional to the Schottky barrier height of the metal. It is then desirable to use low Schottky barrier metal to make the diode in order to reduce the conduction loss of the diode. However, the leakage current of the Schottky in the reverse blocking mode is also determined by the Schottky barrier height. Low Schottky barrier height will give rise to higher leakage current in the reverse blocking operation of the diode.

In order to reduce the reverse leakage of the Schottky diode, P-type junctions are placed in the silicon as shown in FIG. 1B. In the reverse blocking mode, the n-silicon is at a higher potential with respect to the Schottky barrier metal. The PN junction is also reverse bias. The depletions from two adjacent p-type junctions merged and shield the surface Schottky barrier from the high reverse voltage thus reduce the leakage current of the diode. The disadvantage of the JBS is the reduced Schottky surface area from the p-type junctions. For higher breakdown voltage Schottky diode, deeper p-type junction is usually required. Deeper junction also has more lateral diffusion. The Schottky area utilization could be quite low for the high breakdown voltage JBS. An alternative way to shield the Schottky barrier from the reverse voltage is the Trench MOS Barrier Schottky as shown in FIG. 1C. With the trench Schottky barrier, the depletions from surrounding the lower portions of the trenches pinch off and shield the Schottky barrier junction on top the mesa. The shape of the trenches affects the breakdown of the dielectric in the trenches. Rounding the bottom and top corners are required to reduce the leakage of the TMBS. The rounding of the sharp corners requires extra process steps and specialized equipment and all these requirements cause an increase in the production costs.

Therefore, a need still exists in the art of implementing the Schottky diodes in the electronic device including the power semiconductor devices to provide new device configuration and manufacturing method in configuring and manufacturing the Schottky diodes to overcome and resolve the above discussed problems and limitations.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

It is therefore an aspect of the present invention to provide a new and improved Schottky diode with the junction barrier metal deposited in the trenches with dopant region disposed below the trenches that has a grading dopant profiles by carrying out a tapered dopant implant for improving the JBS performance such that the above discussed limitations and difficulties of the convention Schottky is resolved.

Another aspect of this invention is to provide new and improved Schottky device configuration with the JBS disposed in the trenches with dopant islands formed at a distance from the trench bottom and having an optimize spacing between the dopant islands such that the forward voltage may be reduced, the breakdown voltage can be increased while the leakage current Idss can also be reduced.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after having read the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment, which is illustrated in the various drawing figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A to 1C are cross sectional views of Schottky diodes disclosed in prior art disclosures.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are cross sectional views of Schottky diodes with P+ floating islands of this invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of a Schottky diodes with P+ regions along the depth of trench of this invention

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of a Schottky diodes with trench side wall dielectric layer of this invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of a Schottky diodes with Schottky junction forming at the trench bottom of this invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of a planar Schottky diodes of this invention.

FIGS. 7A to 7D are a serial cross sectional views for describing the manufacturing processes to manufacture a Schottky device of FIG. 2A.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE METHOD

Referring to FIG. 2A for a cross sectional view of a Schottky diode 100 of this invention. The Schottky diode 100 is supported and formed in a semiconductor substrate, e.g., an N-doped silicon substrate 105. The Schottky diode 100 includes a plurality of trenches forming a plurality of semiconductor mesas. In the preferred embodiment as shown in FIG. 2 the trenches are filled with Schottky barrier metal, e.g., Ti/TiN or Tungsten metal 110, or a contact metal overlaying a Schottky barrier metal. In another preferred embodiment (not shown), at least a portion of vertical surface of semiconductor mesas is lined with Schottky barrier metal. For the purpose of preventing leakage current generated by the reverse voltage, P-dopant regions 140 are formed surrounding the bottom of the trenches. A floating P− island 150 is disposed underneath the trench bottoms. In reverse bias, the floating P island 150 forms an extra PN junction with substrate in addition to the PN junction formed between P dopant regions 140 and N substrate, the reveres bias is therefore distributed over two junctions instead of one junction as in the prior arts and the device reversed bias breakdown voltage hence increases. FIG. 2B shows an embodiment wherein pluralities of floating P islands are disposed underneath the trench bottoms thereby forming a number of extra PN junctions to divide up the total reverse bias, the breakdown voltage is therefore further increased.

FIG. 3 is the cross sectional view of another embodiment of current invention. The device 300 as shown in FIG. 3 comprises a plurality of deep trenches 170 filled with Schottky barrier metal 110. In addition to the P dopant regions 140 and floating P islands 150, the device in FIG. 3 also comprises a plurality of P regions 120 surrounding the trenches along the depth of the trenches and a top P dopant region 130 surrounding the top portion of the trenches for preventing the reverse leakage current.

The device 400 as shown in FIG. 4 is similar to device 200 as shown in FIG. 2 except that, in device 400 a dialectical layer 160 is formed along the sidewall of trenches therefore no trench sidewall Schottky contact is formed. Alternatively the trench may fill with conducive material such as doped poly silicon instead of Schottky barrier metal to electrically connect the P doped region 140 to Schottky contact layer 110.

FIG. 5 is the cross sectional view of another embodiment 500 of current invention. The device 500 as shown in FIG. 5 comprises a plurality of shallow trenches filled with Schottky barrier metal 110. The trenches are etched through a P+ dopant layer 145 overlaying N layer 105. The trench corner is rounded to avoid sharp corner effect as Schottky junctions are formed at the trench bottom and around the corner. An optional dielectric layer 160 may be formed over the P+ layer 145 therefore P+ layer 145 only contacts with Schottky metal 110 at the edge of trench. A plurality of P+ floating islands formed under the P+ layer 145 to increase the reverse bias breakdown voltage.

FIG. 6 is the cross sectional view of another embodiment 600 of current invention. The device 600 is a planar device. In addition to the P+ regions 146 formed on top of substrate in contact with Schottky junction barrier metal 110, the device further comprises a plurality of P+ floating islands under each surface P+ region 146 to enhance reverse breakdown voltage.

FIGS. 7A-7D are the cross sectional views of process of making a device 100 as shown in FIG. 2A. In FIG. 7A the process starts with an N type Epi wafer with an N+ substrate 701 in the bottom and a N− Epi layer 705 on the top. In one embodiment the N dopant concentration in Epi layer 705 is adjusted to around 1E16/cm³ for a 30V device (breakdown) device. An oxide layer 725 may be formed on top of Epi layer 705 and a mask 727 is applied to etch off a portion of oxide layer 725. In FIG. 7B trenches 715 are etched through the mask 727 into the Epi layer to a predetermined depth followed by a high energy P type implant to form P+ regions 750. Multiple P+ floating islands 750 at deferent depth may be formed by multiple implantations of Boron ions with dosages ranging from 1E11 to 1E16 at energy level from 60 KeV to 1000 KeV. In one embodiment, the Boron ions with a dosage of 5E11 is implanted at the energy level of 300 KeV to form a P+ region 750 about 0.85 μm under the trench bottom. In FIG. 7C a lower energy implant is carried out to form the P+ region 740. In one embodiment BF₂ ions are implanted with an ion implanting energy of 60 KeV. This step may be accomplished at the same time the contact implant is carried in the case when the Schottky device is integrated with other functional circuit, such as a vertical DMOS. The oxide layer 725 is then removed. In FIG. 7D, Schottky barrier metal such as Ti/TiN or Tungsten is deposit to form the anode electrode. Alternatively a silicidation process may be carried out after the deposition of a thin layer of Schottky barrier metal followed by the deposition of a thick contact metal layer. The process is completed with a step of depositing a cathode electrode on the bottom surface of the substrate 701.

Although the present invention has been described in terms of the presently preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that such disclosure is not to be interpreted as limiting. Various alterations and modifications will no doubt become apparent to those skilled in the art after reading the above disclosure. Accordingly, it is intended that the appended claims be interpreted as covering all alterations and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention. 

1. A Schottky diode comprising: a Schottky barrier and a plurality of dopant regions disposed near said Schottky barrier as floating islands to function as PN junctions for preventing a leakage current generated from a reverse voltage; at least a trench opened in a semiconductor substrate with a Schottky barrier material disposed therein for constituting said Schottky barrier; and a top doped region of a second conductivity type surrounding a top portion of sidewalls of said trench in said semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type.
 2. The Schottky diode of claim 1 further comprising: more dopant regions of said second conductivity type surrounding sidewalls of said trench distributed along a depth of said trench in said semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type.
 3. The Schottky diode of claim 1 wherein: said Schottky barrier metal further lining a bottom surface of said trench forming a Schottky junction on said trench bottom surface.
 4. The Schottky diode of claim 1 further comprising: a dialectical layer disposed along sidewalls of said trench.
 5. A Schottky diode comprising: a Schottky barrier and a plurality of dopant regions disposed near said Schottky barrier as floating islands to function as PN junctions for preventing a leakage current generated from a reverse voltage; a shallow trench filled with a Schottky barrier material for constituting said Schottky barrier wherein said shallow trench is surrounded by a doped region of a second conductivity type in a semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type wherein said shallow trench having rounded trench-bottom corners.
 6. The Schottky diode of claim 5 further comprising: a dielectric layer insulating said doped region of a second conductivity type whereby said doped region of said second conductivity type is prevented from contacting a trench corner and is contacting only said Schottky barrier material filling said shallow trench.
 7. A method for manufacturing a Schottky diode comprising: forming a plurality of dopant regions followed by forming a Schottky barrier near said dopant regions as floating islands to function as PN junctions for preventing a leakage current generated from a reverse voltage applied to said Schottky barrier.
 8. The method of claim 7 further comprising: opening at least a trench in a semiconductor substrate followed by implanting dopant ions through said trench to form said dopant regions below a bottom surface of said trench; and filling a Schottky barrier material therein to form said Schottky barrier in said trench.
 9. The method of claim 8 wherein: said step of filling said Schottky barrier material further comprising a step of filling Ti/TiN or a tungsten metal into said trench for forming said Schottky barrier.
 10. The method of claim 8 wherein: said step of filling said Schottky barrier material further comprising a step of disposing a Schottky barrier material on sidewalls of said trench to form said Schottky barrier along sidewalls of said trench. 